Korean Job Discussion Forums

[princess]

Has anyone out there ever lost two jobs in seven months? Even after 2 years of teaching experience? Maybe there is jealousy at work involving me or something. (Especially when you give it your all and still lose your job). Both of these jobs were outside of Seoul, too. Never had so much bad luck in Seoul.

[jpal75]

Wow..that's a tough call.
What happened? Is it really bad luck or could it have been something that you've done. I'm curious what the circumstances were in both situation. :

[Kalhoun]

[Zed]

Actually, I'm more embarassed that I stayed at my last job.

[katydid]

I suppose I didn't technically lose my job, but I took the news very badly when I was told my contract wasn't going to be renewed. Hagwans are so arbitrary in who they hire and who they fire. Unis can be like that too.

[Austin]

Kalhoun,

I wear socks, but I do not use puppets! If I have something to say, I will use my real name.

Austin

BTW, Katydid, what is "wrong" with making arbitrary decisions? Would you rather they be made randomly?

[Derrek]

Look at it this way...

My old hagwon director didn't renew my contract. Even though I wasn't planning to renew, it bugged me. I'm not sure if it is because of something my ex-gf said, or what. I heard she was going to quit after we broke up, but she never did, because the boss asked her to stay and probably gave her a raise. She stayed on -- I don't think it was because she felt weird around me, as much as it was about saving face because everyone there knew we had been going out. I think she figured she couldn't hide the fact that she was to marry a Korean guy for very long, and still save face over what she'd been doing with me.

Anyway, my old director had a blowout with the other foreign teacher I was working with at the time (on her last day). He hired two new people, and I know at least one has been fired. The guy being fired had been in some Korean movies, and my old director advertised him as being an actor. My guess is that he couldn't get along with a lot of the primadonna kids at that school. The family owning the school is OK, but some of the kids are just horrible. Since my old hagwon is hiring 2 new people for January 1, the other teacher must be leaving early too.

My director was asking me to consider coming back if things didn't work out at my hagwon. That sort of vindicated me, since he originally wasn't going to hire me back. Maybe I wasn't so bad after all.

I would, but not after what happened with my ex. It's best for me if all memories just fade into oblivion.

My point is that sometimes in hagwon life, you are not as bad as you think if you weren't renenewed. Maybe they just want a new face to advertise.

Besides, Princess, you've been working outside of Seoul. People are more Xenophobic, etc. Also, the hagwon industry hasn't been doing well these days.

[some waygug-in]

First off, your not a loser. Don't ever let anyone tell you that. The hagwan industry is not as rosy as it once was. I know many excellent teachers who suddenly find themselves out of work. (myself included)

You have gained valuable experience from those 2 jobs, even if for no other reason than you know what to look out for when applying for your next position.

Hagwan teaching is not for the faint of heart. It's a tough business. Maybe it's time for a short vacation anyway. I know I need to leave Korea for a while, just to regain some sense of sanity.

Good Luck.

[The Man known as The Man]

You need love.

Canadian love.

HTH

[Derrek]

If you had read any of her previous posts, you would know that she prefers her men of the asian persuasion, and serving soju.

[The Man known as The Man]

What she likes and what is best for princess are two entirely different things.

Hence my choice of verb.


princess, you need Canadian monkey-like love.

[margaret]

Maybe your getting non-renewed or fired has something to do with your preference for dating Koreans? Maybe there is some racism afoot--like they think you're stealing their men or don't know your place or behave like a proper foreigner. Especially in the sticks. Is that a possibility?

[Gord]

Or maybe it's because you're confrontational and blame everyone else for everything?

For a school to fire a teacher, that's a huge expense. That means they are going to pay to fly another teacher in and pay another recruiting fee on a possibly unprove teacher. So basically 3 million Won on a gamble.

Before the schools fired you, they built up 3 million Won worth of hate towards you. I'd be curious as to what stunts you had pulled that justified spending 3 million Won to remove you.

[batman]

Funny thing about the recruiter is that they don't get paid if the teacher leaves early. The school I just finished my contract at never paid for a teacher who left early. Nor did the director lose on the cost of the airfare. He was always reimbursed by the departing teacher. So I would question the 3,000,000 won of hate idea.
Also, it may be argued, that schools can profit by having a teacher leave early. With the contract not being finished the school does not have to worry about year-end bonus, airfare, payment of the teacher's taxes to the national tax agency, etc.
Of course the school's image is always tarnished (among students, recruiters, teachers) when a teacher leaves early but the school never seems to worry about that.
Hell the school I just finished my contract at is a prime example of something that smells. I was the first teacher in two years to finsih a contract. For the last year, everytime we got a new teacher it would be a week or so before the director would talk about firing him/her. And part of that was because he knew that any teacher that did not stay was a free-be.
So, princess, I am sorry to hear about your circumstances. Do not take it personally. My opinion is that you probably picked a couple of dud schools. It does happen (too often, it would seem, at times). I went through the same thing. Couple of bad, bad, bad, schools in a row. Why do hogwans treat teachers so poorly? Who knows. There is neither ryhme nor reason to the way the dictator/director of a hogwan thinks. Or even if they do think. My last director was famous for spending 10,000 won so he could save 5 won.
Hopefully your next experience will be a good one.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your freedom until your next contract.

[mack the knife]

Princess,

Just accept the goddamn engagement ring from Derrek already and get on with your miserable lives.